In the wake of many defence deal scandals in India,with the most recent one being the Augusta Westland Helicopters scam,the Indian defence minister A.K.Antony made it clear that India needs to speed up the indigenisation process of its defence production in order to root out corruption from the defence sector.

Mr.A.K.Antony stated;”I think our armed forces, government, DRDO, industry both public as well as private should come together in mission mode so that India can achieve maximum for indigenisation in a reasonable time.Whatever support is needed from the government, I assure you we will give.I am going to ask about our defence procurement and defence production policy so we can speed up the indigenisation process”

When asked about corruption in defence dealings,he stated;”We have to go to the root of all allegations. Whatever needs to be done to punish the guilty.We can’t afford to waste a single rupee of the taxpayers money”

Following the directives of the Ministry of Defence,the Indian government is now,changing defence equipment procurement procedures to give priority to Indian companies including those from the private sector,while procurement from foreign companies will be the last option.

The Indian government’s current defence procurement policy is preferred towards foreign defence companies.At present foreign companies dominate the Indian defence procurement market with a 70 percent share, followed by Indian public sector. Domestic private sector has only a marginal presence.As per the current offset policy, in any contract worth Rs 300 crore or above foreign companies are required to invest 30 percent of the contract value back in India.

If the Indian Government make true its promise of promoting Indigenous defence production,then major Indian Corporates like Larsen & Toubro, Mahindra & Mahindra and Tatas will likely to gain from the likely policy change.

With the MBT Arjun,Tejas LCA,Pinaka MBRL & many more Indigenous defence offerings already with the Indian defence forces,the Indian defence Industry has shown that it is capable of delivering world class products & now,with full support of the Indian Government,it will get bigger & better,no to forget massive employment opportunities,new technical advances & a lot of foreign exchange savings.JAI HIND..